Continuing cash reductions will soon make adult social care services ‘unsustainable’ according to new research from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS).
Reported in LG News:
The annual survey shows that adult social care has already faced cuts of 26%, and is facing a further 1.9% cut in 2014-15, the equivalent of £266m. ADASS is warning that unless new money is injected, services will soon be unable to absorb the pressures faced.
ADASS president, David Pearson, said: ‘This is the third year of continuing cash reductions and the fifth year of real terms reductions in spending. Since 2010 spending on social care has fallen by 12% at a time when the number of those looking for support has increased by14%.
‘This has forced departments to make savings of 26% in their budgets – the equivalent of £3.53bn over the last four years. Nothing can be starker than the truth these figures point to.’
‘In March this year the National Audit Office said that ‘need for care is rising while public spending is falling, and there is unmet need. Departments do not know if we are approaching the limits of the capacity of the system to continue to absorb these pressures.’
Pearson also praised the role local authorities are playing in protecting social services from cuts, including protecting investment in prevention currently at £923m for 2014/15. Local authorities have also allocated 49% of the NHS Transfer received in 2014/15 to avoid cuts to services that benefit both health and social care.
In response to the findings, Richard Humphries assistant director of policy at The King’s Fund said: ‘Worryingly, half the money being transferred from the NHS budget to support better joint working between health and social care is now being spent on protecting social care services from budget cuts, rather than driving integrated care and other service changes needed to better meet the needs of patients and service-users.
‘Using NHS funding as a sticking plaster does not deal with the significant challenges facing social care, nor does it help address the emerging funding pressures facing the NHS.’